First Annual Eureka Street Art Festival Runs August 11-18

Eureka, CA – The first annual Eureka Street Art Festival begins on August 11th and runs through August 18th. For the week of the festival, artists will be painting murals and creating street art throughout Old Town Eureka. Daily Art Walks will take place at 5:30pm, leaving from the Black Faun Gallery. On Saturday, August 18th, there will be an Opera Alley Street Party to celebrate the completion of the murals. Generally, visual art is something that is appreciated as a product. This festival will give people the opportunity to appreciate painting as a process. This festival is family-friendly and free to the public.

The festival will feature the creation and installation of 22 pieces of artwork throughout Old Town Eureka by a diverse group of local and internationally recognized artists. Most of the pieces will be focused along Opera Alley, which runs between 2nd and 3rd Streets. The farthest south piece is a cat-centric painting Rachel Schlueter that will be mounted on the front of the C Street Studios. Local artists Johnathon DeSoto, Stock Schlueter, Anna Sofia Amezcua, Rachel Schlueter, Elizabeth Berrien, and Erin Urbanus will be painting large-scale panels installed on the side of the Mendenhall Studios, off of C Street. A collaborative women’s mural, titled Spin, will also be painted on the side of the Mendenhall Studios by artists Julie McNiel, Courtney Karnes, Ellie Gainey, and Phyllis Barba. Long Beach artist Dave Van Patten will be creating a fantastically strange, large mural on the Shanty’s wall facing the parking lot off of 3rd and D Streets. Just off of D Street, Fortuna artist Dakota Daetwiler will be painting a mural featuring Eureka’s famous Madaket. Further down the alley, Matt Beard will be painting one of his classic landscapes on the utility box just off of E Street. Next door, Blake Reagan will be painting the wall of the Speakeasy with a 1920’s art deco-inspired piece and Anna Sofia Amezcua will be painting a large-scale version of her colorful abstract works. Wheat paste images by Karuk artist Brian Tripp and Canvas + Clay artists Soodie Whitaker, Chris Johnson, and Betty Kuhnel will be installed on the Carson Block building, thanks to a collaboration with the Northern California Indian Development Council and Canvas + Clay. On the north end of Opera Alley, Brandon Knok and DMise will be painting panels near G street, and Matthew Marshall will be painting a large mural featuring elk on the back side of the RCEA building near H Street. One mural is being painted outside of Opera Alley – make sure to visit the Roadway Inn on the north end of town to see the colorful geometric work by Ashland, Oregon muralist Xavi Panneton.

There are a number of ways people can engage with this festival: stop by Old Town anytime during the week to watch the creation of the pieces, attend one of the daily facilitated Art Walks, come to any of the Festival events, and enjoy the Opera Alley Street Party, taking over Old Town on Saturday, August 18th.

Festival Schedule:

Week-long Events:

Daily Street Art Tours, 5:30pm

Meet at the Black Faun Gallery

Artists painting murals throughout Opera Alley

Grab a program (and map) from Black Faun Gallery or the Eureka Visitors Center at the Clarke Museum

Live performances by the Redwood Dixie-Gators, Bandemonium, Synapsis Aerial Collective, the James Zeller Trio, 707 Band, Barnett, Cold Light of Day, and various DJs.

Dozens of local artists (in addition to the muralists) live painting throughout Old Town.

Local food vendors!

This event is sponsored by the Black Faun Gallery, Humboldt Cider Company, and the City of Eureka.

The Eureka Street Art Festival’s mission is to create intentional, accessible art that enlivens public spaces, stimulates community revitalization, and attracts visitors to Eureka. Our long term aim is to recreate this event annually and continuously introduce new public art in Eureka. Excess funds raised by the Festival will go towards the maintenance of existing public art throughout the city.